and see how you're doing. >> mine's just what i've been doing since my children were born. be the best dad i can be and be there for my kids and my wife. that's the most personal thing -- and, of course, my friends, but they come first. >> john king reporting from 49th state utah. one more state to be. what will it be? see next week. thanks for joining me on "state of the union." i'm going to toss it to gloria borger. john seems to get lucky meals wherever he goes. >> it was a little calorieic. at least he got a well deserved day off. he'll be back here next week. i'm gloria borger and this is "state of the union." growing questions in the wake of the christmas day terror plot. >> it was a mix of human and systemic failures that contributed to this potential catastrophic breach of security. >> how did we miss the signs? and how will the administration make sure it doesn't happen

again? we'll put the questions to president obama's top counterterrorism adviser john brennan. then exclusive reaction and perspective from the man who wrote the book on preventing another terror attack. the former chairman of the 9/11 commission thomas kean. two leader senators weigh in on how the u.s. should try this case. republican jim demint of south carolina and democrat claire mccaskill of missouri. then our american dispatch from salt lake city, utah, where the mayor's attempt to liberalize liquor laws is getting local pushback. he says the attempted terror attack is fresh evidence that al qaeda is figuring us out. the last word from michael scheuer, former chief of the cia's osama bin laden unit. this is the "state of the union" report for sunday, january 3rd, 2010.

we begin today with the latest on the failed christmas day bomb plot. joining us now, man reporting directly to president obama about what went wrong, and how to fix it. john brennan, welcome to "state of the union." before we get to that christmas day bomb plot, there's breaking news this morning we need to talk about. hours ago the u.s. embassy in yemen closed in response from threats to al qaeda. you've been briefed by general petraeus and others and general petraeus was, of course, just in yemen. is there an imminent threat o all americans there? >> i spoke to our ambassador in yemen both this morning as well as last night and there are indications al qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against target inside of sana, possibly our embassy. we take every measure possible to ensure safety of diplomats

abroad. we're working closely with the yemeni government on taking the proper security precautions. >> this type of imminent threat there evidence of a ramped up threat by al qaeda generally to move to american soil as we saw on christmas day? >> i think what we've seen over the past several years in yemen is increasing strengthening of al qaeda forcing in yemen. several hundred al qaeda members there. from the first day of this administration we focused on yemen. i traveled to yemen twice. i spoke with the president this week. we're concerned about al qaeda's continued growth there. they're not just focusing on yemen, it was evidenced by abdulmutallab's effort to bring down that plane. they're getting to the west. we have to get to the problem in yemen now. >> should we be more concerned today than we were three weeks ago? >> it's showing there's a culmination of the effort of al qaeda to carry out attacks. we stop a lot of attacks and plans before they get to the execution phase. what is clear, whether al qaeda in the arabian peninsula or

others are continuing to press and continue their attempts. >> the answer to that is yes? >> we see continued attempts. al qaeda is determined to carry out attacks. they keep pressing. >> the director of national intelligence dennis blair sent a memo to employees. in it he said, i'm quoting here, that al qaeda is diminished. yet, yesterday, michael lighter who runs the counterterrorism center sent out a statement that says al qaeda continues to refine their methods. which is it? is it diminished or more sophisticated? >> it is both. me made quite a bit of progress in degrading the capabilities of al qaeda organization. taken the battle to them. we eliminated senior leaders an operatives. that doesn't mean they have the capability of carrying out attacks. they're looking for ways and vulnerabilities in our system to get their operatives here to the united states or other places to carry out the attacks. >> should we raise the threat

level here? >> we have a system in place that allows us to strengthen the security measures. that's what happened on december 25th. we didn't have to raise the alert level to red. we immediately strengthened security precautions on planes and other places. we feel comfortable we're well poised now. >> you feel comfortable. let's get back to the christmas day plot. something went very long there. you're going to bottom line this for the president. you've received reports from every agency responsible for counterterrorism. as you bottom line this, how severe was the failure? >> i think what -- clearly the system didn't work. we had a problem in terms of why abdulmutallab got on that plane. there is no smoking gun piece of intelligence out there that says he was a terrorist, he was going to carry out the attack. we had bits and pieces of the information. >> there was no smoking gun? the father went to the embassy in nigeria. he's a well-respected banker and said, i've gotten these terrible

text messages from my son. isn't that -- that's not a needle in a haystack. >> that was certainly an alert that came to our attention. he was consorting with extremists in yemen, didn't know what he was doing. he was concerned about him and wanted our help. that was one set of data. we had other data within the intelligence system. bits and pieces of information that didn't give us the clarity we needed to map it and attach it to abdulmutallab. as an intelligence community, as a government, we need to bring bits and pieces of information together so we prevent mr. abdul maal lab from getting on the plane. >> we see mr. abdulmutallab was on the radar last may when the united kingdom revoked his visa to travel from britain. the national security agency, cia, national counterterrorism center and homeland security had pieces of this puzzle. nobody put the information

together. he bought a ticket for cash. he boarded an airplane in amsterdam without a checked bag and had explosives in his underwear. what got in the way? >> first of all, when the british turned down mr. abdulmutallab for a visa because of immigration concerns. he put on his form a school that he wasn't -- that didn't exist. that was not related to terrorism at all. we had the information throughout the course of the summer and the fall about al qaeda in the arabian peninsula's plans to carry out attacks. we had information about umar farouk but didn't have any type of information that really allowed us to identify mr. abdulmutallab. the system did fail. everybody -- a lot of people buy their tickets in africa with cash. that is the way things are done because there's so much fraud there. that wasn't a necessary bell. people in the airport didn't know he bought the ticket for cash. he did bring on carry-on luggage.

tlrp there were a lot of things out there. we're doing the diagnosis, figuring out how we could have stopped this. >> are you saying there isn't a way you could have stopped it? >> i'm saying there was information in the system that should have allowed us to stop it. yes. that's what the president is determined -- >> what was the information that was -- where? >> as you mentioned it was the puzzle pieces. a number of pieces out there, but for whatever reason not brought together. we as a government need to make sure that we're able to bring those pieces together. every day there are millions of pieces of the puzzle that come together on many, many people. >> it sounds, with all due respect it sounds an awful lot like 9/11. my question to you, who is going to be held accountable? >> well, first of all, it was not like 9/11. no indication the departments or agencies were holding back information. >> no turf pbattles? >> no turf battles.

i'm going to make sure to tell the president what i think went wrong. there wasn't an effort to try to conceal information. i can point to many different examples this year. the fbi, department of homeland security and intelligence community combined to stop attacks. >> can you give us an example we don't know about? >> there's a lot of classified information out there and lots of information that relates to overseas try to come to the united states. they've been able to stop people before they get on the plane. nauj bull zazi, the five guys that left from northern virginia. when their parents brought it to the attention of the fbi, that's the way the system should work. we went out there, contacted the pakistani authorities. they're in prison. we're trying to ensure the system works in all these cases as in future events that come up. >> let's switch now to the larger terror threat we were talking about at the beginning of the show. cnn is reporting there's a

radical american cleric born in yemen, very well known to you, anwar al awlaki. that had connection to the shooter at ft. hood and the christmas day bomber. do you consider the ft. hood shooting a terrorist attack? >> we're clear about is mr. awlaki was in touch with major hasan and indications he had direct contact with abdulmutallab. mr. awlaki is a problem. he's clearly a part of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. he is trying to instigate terrorism. we need to make sure we can identify other individuals or other activities of mr. awlaki to stop it before it comes through. >> is he alive? >> awlaki? we're continuing to press and maintain pressure inside of yemen. there are a number of al qaeda operatives in yemen no longer alive who were last month. >> was ft. hood a terrorist

atang? >> we're still looking at that. the term terrorism is defined many different ways. in my mind major hasan carried out this attack. it was inspired, i think, by system of the rantings and rhetoric of individuals like awlaki and so they're looking at this right. >> so it was? >> certainly an act of murder. waupten murder, wanton slaughter of u.s. military officers. >> let's talk about guantanamo, then, for a moment, too. there are reports one prisoner released from guantanamo in 2006 is now called the theological guy, if you will, to al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. he was involved in the christmas day plot. does it make you rethink your decision to release six prisoners back into yemen last month from guantanamo? >> no, it doesn't. that was result of meticulous, rigorous process we've had in place since the beginning of the administration. last administration released 532

detainees it. during this administration we have transferred five of these individuals overseas. i've been in dialogue with the yeme yemenis. several of those were put into custody as soon as they returned to yemen. we're making sure we're not doing anything to put u.s. citizens about our decisions tonight transporting detainees. >> you have 90 prisoners remaining in guantanamo from yemen. there's word now they're not going to be sent back home to yemen. what are you going to do with them? send them to illinois? >> we haven't stopped the process as far as dealing with them. many are going to be fros cuted, some under the article three courts and some under military courts. some individuals are going to be transferred back to yemen at the right time, right pace and right way. >> they will still go back to yemen. >> we made a decision we would send back six because we were pleased with the way the yemeni government handled the one individual we sent back eight

weeks ago. we're making sure the situation on the ground is taken into account, we continue to work with the yemeni government and do this in a very common sense fashion. because we want to make sure that we are able to close guantanamo. guantanamo has been used as a propaganda tool we al qaeda and others. we need to close that facility and are determined to do that. they are going to be transferred back. those that are appropriate to go back. also those that need to stay in detention we are going to do that. >> so these 40 or so -- let me make this clear -- the 40 or so that are slated to be sent back to yemen, they still will be sent back to yemen? >> question make a decision about when they're going to be sent back, how they're going to be sent back and under what conditions. >> has this slowed it down is what i'm asking? >> the attempted attack by mr. abdulmutallab on christmas day was a unique incident. we have been monitoring and watching the situation in yemen develop over time. that one incident on 25th of december doesn't change the situation on the ground in yemen

one bit. we know that al qaeda's out there. we know we have to be mindful of that and take our steps with those detainees in a manner that's not going to put our citizens at risk. we're not going to do that. >> so they will be sent back? >> we're going to do it the right way at the right time. >> the president has said we're at war with al qaeda. you have said that. if we're at war, why not treat abdulmutallab as an enemy combatant? >> because over the past number of years we have been able, very successfully, to charge a number of terrorists in court. look at richard reid, the shoe bomber. he was convicted and sentenced in court. zacarias moussaoui. all these individuals are tried in civilian court. we tried to adapt the tools in the right way. we are also a country of laws. this was an individual arrested on u.s. soil. if we decide at some point we're going to charge and hold somebody under the enemy combatant status it's a tool

that was available to us. we made a decision to do this. we have great confidence in the fbi and other individuals in terms of debriefing. great confidence in our court system so we can use that to our advantage and individuals in the past have, in fact, given us very valuable information as they've gone through the plea agreement process. >> let me ask you one more question. there was a report in "newsweek" that you received intelligence from saudi officials that al qaeda might try to use an explosive hidden in underwear. that's what mr. abdulmutallab did. what did you do with that information when you got it? >> i think the report you're referring to is the attempted assassination attack against prince in august. i was out in saudi arabia. i met with the prince. i went to the room where the attack took place. we worked very closely with the saidlies to get that information. we shared it completely throughout the government. petn was the substance that was used in that attack.

we were looking very carefully at that. there was no indication at the time there was going to be an attempt against an aircraft. we need to try to stay ahead of it. >> was the faa put on alert about this that people might be coming through airports with explosives in their underwear? >> there was nothing in the assassination attempt against the prince that indicated aviation was a target. we were concerned about the possible assassination attempts and so we have been taking steps as we get this information -- >> the faa, no? >> the faa get all the information that's available to the intelligence community that relates it terrorist threats. so we have that system working well, but clearly in the case of mr. abdulmutallab the system didn't work the way it was designed to work. >> in conclusion i'd like to talk about the president for one moment. three months ago on october 6th me said this at the national counterterrorism center. just listen to this. >> you are setting the standard. you're showing what was focused and integrated counterterrorism really looks like. the record of your service is

written in the attacks that never occur. because you thwarted them. >> now, on tuesday it was a very, very different president obama who was a lot less complimentary about the intelligence services. listen to this. >> when our government has information on a known extremist and that information is not shared and acted upon as it should have been so this extremist boards a plane with dangerous explosives that could have cost nearly 300 lives, a systemic failure has occurred. and i consider that totally unacceptable. >> what does the president know now that he didn't know three months ago? >> first of all the president takes his solemn responsibility to protect the wellbeing of the american people very seriously. i see it every day. i hear it every day. he wants to make sure that we do everything possible in that regard. what i think the president understands, today, is that the

system a is complex one, there are ways to strengthen it. he is determined to strengthen it. we're fortunate to have the people who are dedicated to doing this day in and day out basis. when americans were enjoying the holidays with their families and able to sort of watch football games, other things, there were dedicated americans at the national counterterrorism center, cia, department of homeland security and fibl working around the clock to protect fellow zchts citizens. the system presidents to make sure the system in place is as good as it can be so we don't have another incidence where an individual gets on a plane with a bomb. he's determined do that and i'm going to make sure i do everything i can to support the president's wishing in this regard. >> thank you very pluch, mr. brennan, for being with us today. the former chairman of the 9/11 commission will tell us what lessons we have yet to learn. ♪ [ female announcer ] most people make resolutions... based on what they see on the outside. ♪ this year, focus on what's inside...

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and joining me now to talk more about the foiled terror plot and the state of our homeland security is thomas kean, former republican governor of new jersey and former chairman of the 9/11 commission. thank you so much, governor kean for being with us this morning. you heard what john brennan had to say when pressed on the christmas bomber plot. what's your general reaction to his responses? >> well, they're a bit defensive and i guess that's probably understandable given all the circumstances, but, you know, these -- this guy in some respect is looking at in retrospect probably did us a favor. i mean, look, we had an administration which was not focused as it should be on terrorism and that's understandable. they're focused on health care

and on global warming and the economy. that's very understandable. secondly, we weren't really focused on yemen and the terrible things happening there. now we are and that's a good thing. thirdly, there were holes, obviously and the system wasn't working well. we found out it wasn't working well. the president understands it's not working well, and now we're focused on fixing it. so all over thanks so -- thanks god this wasn't any serious injury, but guy probably did us a fafsh. we're going to be more alert. >> you heard what mr. brennan said. this was human failure, not a failure of people fighting each other on turf. when i asked him the question you've been asking this week, which was about, why not pay attention to abdulmutallab's father? a banker that walks into the embassy and is worried. he seemed to say that wasn't a direct clue. >> that alone, given who that father was, his prestige in the community, his connections with

the united states embassy, that alone should have been enough. think for a moment if you're a father or mother, for that matter, and what it takes to go in there to a foreign embassy and actually turn in your child. i mean, this was an act of tremendous courage by this man. >> brennan's response was he didn't say his son was a terrorist. >> that's not good enough. that, to my mind, should have put everybody on alert. again, he said there were pieces of information. he's absolutely right. he's wrong when he says this wasn't like 9/11. because what we pointed out in the report, again and again, is that there were a lot of pieces of information. if they had been put together then we might have deterred that plot. this the same thing. a lot of pieces of information. if they had been shared, shared by the intelligence agencies the way they should be and the way the system in congress is set up to design to compel, then this guy would have never gotten on

the plane. >> we've been spending a lot of time this week re-reading the 9/11 report. which i happen to have here. and we also have been re-reading that final report card when the 9/11 commission did an update an where we were on security issues. this was in december 2005. airline passenger prescreening, gave them an f. airline passenger explosive screening, you gave them a c. government wide information sharing, a d. have the grades improved? >> i think they may have improved some. >> still an "f" in airline passenger screening? >> no, i'd give them a higher grade now. still not good enough. we have to reach an "a" on that level. we cannot allow our people to don't a plane and not feel safe. so, you know, it's still not good enough, but now, thank goodness, perhaps due to this

incident we'll get to where we should be. >> let me ask you a little bit about the role of the president here. has the president led forcefully enough, do you believe, to demand the sharing of information between these intelligence agencies? >> well, the president now is saying the right things. i believe he'll follow through and do the right things. the problem was not now but the fact before that this administration i think was distracted. that's understandable. heaven's sakes. if you're in this huge health care fight and worried about the economy and global warming and all that sort of thing, that's what they're were concentrating on and not giving this enough attention. >> you're say the president was not giving this enough attention? >> i don't think the whole administration was. there were good people there. if you look at his cabinet secretaries, people who are involved in counterterrorism, they're good people. i mean, they're good people, but they need support. they need coordination. the president needs to supply the leadership and no matter

what else is going on this is who has got to be number one. >> governor kean, thank you so much for your perspective on all of this this morning. it was a war of words this week on who is to blame for the security breakdown in the detroit terror plot. up next we're going to hear from two senators with very different views on that. so stay with us. this is amazing. let me take this. wait, there's no such thing as a projector phone. no, it's the lg phone and projector. there's no such thing as an lg phone and projector. ta-da. what ? the man said "ta-da" ! introducing the lg expo smartphone and lg projector. only at at&t.

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garlique's clinically proven ingredient maintains healthy cholesterol naturally. eat right. exercise. garlique. welcome back to squt state of the union." i'm gloria borger filling in for john king. with us now, claire mccaskill of missouri and republican jim demint of south carolina, both joining us from their home states.

thanks to both of you for being with us this morning. let me start with you, senator demint. your reaction, please, to john brennan. he seemed to say this was a failure of human error, not turf. >> well, i was concerned before i heard him talk and i think i'm a little more alarmed because he seems to have a hard time saying that this is an act of terror, that ft. hood was an act of terror, that the christmas day bomber was an act of terror. unless we're willing to recognize this as a global war, in many cases against the united states, i'm afraid we're going to fail to take the actions that we need to. the most important point now, gloria, this threat is real and we need to make very real changes from the last administration, from this administration. we need to get the politics out of it and focus on security, but i was concerned that he would not give you direct answers,

particularly about whether these were acts of terror or not. >> senator mccaskill, we also spoke about the prisoners in guantanamo. half of those 90 prisoners are now slated to be sent home to yemen. and john brennan made the case that eventually at some point the administration believes that it will be able to send them back to yemen. is that a good idea? >> first of all, i think what he said is they are being very careful about how they're releasing any of these people. the previous administration wasn't quite as careful, frankly. this administration, the people that have been released back to yemen are in custody, and i think the full range of tools are being used. military courts, civilian courts. successfully. and make no mistake here. he did not say that the act on december -- on christmas was not an act of terror.

what he said was this administration, from day one, from the inaugural address, president obama said very clearly and very forcefully that there is a war against terror and violence that is a vast network and we have been taking it to that network through the intelligence community, through additional resources in somalia, in yemen, unlike a myopic focus on iraq. this administration is going worldwide in this war. and is focused on it. i think it's unfair and, frankly, political, to take potshots at the president as we respond. >> how should we be treating abdulmutallab? as an enemy combatant or -- >> i think that as they go forward with this investigation and develop leads, as a former prosecutor i can tell you they will be using this individual to

try to get to more terrorists and as they work with this terrorist they will make a decision on how to move forward. you know, the shoe bomber is sitting in a prison in colorado right now. after going through a trial in our civil system and receiving severe punishment along with dozens and, frankly, hundreds of other terrorists that we have prosecuted in this country. we're not saying there shouldn't be military trials in some instances. what we're saying is the military and justice department should have choices as how we can get these guys and get them with force and with the force of the american law. >> senator demint? do you want to respond? >> gloria, if we had treated this christmas day bomber as a terrorist, he would have immediately been interrogated military style, rather than given the rights of an american in lawyers. we probably lost valuable information. it does come down to a decision of whether or not this is an act of war, an act of terror, or

just a criminal act. there's real implications of the direction that's been taken now. i agree with senator mccaskill. we need to take the politics out of this, but there's no question the president has downplayed the risk of terror since he took offices. he is investigating the cia rather than to build them up. >> senator demint, how has he downplayed the risk of terror? >> well, it begins with not even being willing to use the word. >> aside from the semantics. aside from that. >> aside from the semantics he's been completely distracted by other things as has already been mentioned. he is not focused on building security and intelligence apparatus of our country. the last administration president bush made a huge mistake by sending the yemenis back. the core leadership of al qaeda now is made up of those folks who were at the gitmo prison. we can't make that mistake

again. it's not just about this administration. it's about losing our focus on security and i'm afraid politics and political correctness has become front and center of this debate. >> you know, that's just not true. this president is focused like a laser on how to keep this country safe. his commitment in afghanistan, even though there are those in his party that were very critical of the position he took, he took the time and the energy to determine that us r p ramping up in afghanistan should have been done a long time ago. that's a breeding ground for terrorists. this is a president that is taking strong action and is building up our intelligence community. >> senator demint, senator mccaskill. >> thank you, gloria. >> happy new year. >> happy new year, claire. >> you too, thanks, jim. up next, a quick look at today's headlines. and the man who spent years tracking osama bin laden and al

qae qaeda. former cia officer michael scheuer gets the last word. ♪ with the centers for disease control and prevention saying... that vaccination is still your best protection, walgreens and take care clinics... now offer h1n1 flu vaccinations... every day at our more than 7000 locations nationwide... for just $18.00. so stop in today. walgreens. there's a way to stay well.

good morning, i'm jessica yellin. this is state of the union. here are stories breaking this sunday morning. president obama's top counterterrorism adviser says human error allowed a terror suspect with explosives to board a u.s. airliner on christmas day. speaking on this program earlier today, john brennan said, government agencies had bits and pieces of information on the suspect, but failed to connect them together. brennan says there was no deliberate concealing of information between different government agencies. brennan also says the u.s. embassy in yemen closed today because of threats by al qaeda to attack u.s. interests in that country. it's unclear when it will re-open. the british embassy in yemen also closed but may re-open tomorrow. yesterday president obama links the air terror suspect to an al qaeda affiliate based in yemen.

those are your top stories on "state of the union." up next, former cia analyst gives us his take on the failed terror plot and what cracks it reveals in our homeland security. michael scheuer gets the last word. that's next.

14 newsmakers, analysts and reporters were out on the sunday

morning talk shows, but only one gets the last word. that honor, today, goes to the former chief of the cia's osama bin laden unit, michael scheuer. thanks so much for being here with us and getting the last word this morning. obviously we want to draw upon your cia expertise. let's get right to it. john brennan told us this morning we are going to eventually, that's the key word here, repatriate some of our guantanamo detainees back to yemen. i want to play for you what he said and get your response. >> all right. >> we haven't stopped the process as far as dealing with them. many of them are going to be prosecuted. some under the article three courts and some in military courts. some of these individuals are going to be transferred back to yemen at the right time, at the right pace and in the right way. >> is there a right way. >> can they be rehabbed? >> no, they can't. the saudis, yemenis know our system better than we do in many ways. they know we like the idea of

people being rehabilitated. we send them back to said rake ya, send them back to yemen and they play records for them and teach them how to paint, supposedly and then they ship them off to kill our soldiers in afghanistan or iraq. these people we hold at guantanamo want to be released not to be free but to go back to the battlefield. mr. brennan, just like the last administration, is really portraying something to the american people that is the farther thing from the truth. >> as you look at this right now and see what's going on with al qaeda in yemen, see the embassy closing just today, do you believe that the threat, now, is greater than it was just a couple weeks ago? >> it's greater than it was a couple weeks ago. more importantly, it was much greater than it was on 9/11. we've killed some of their al qaeda leaders and every dead al chi do leader is a success.

we have the main al qaeda in the pakistan theater and afghanistan theater. fully fledged wing in yemen. fully fledged wing in iraq. fully fledged wing in al chi do. >> is the threat from al qaeda greater in yemen than it is afghanistan? >> certainly not. the threat overall from al qaeda is melded together. it's an international organization. we tend to forget that a decade ago we knew al qaeda was in over 50 countries. they're in far more countries than that today. >> let me play for you something -- i asked john brennan if al qaeda, in fact, was diminished or more sophisticated. let's hear what he had to say and then you can respond. >> it is both. we have made quite a bit of progress this year in degrading the capabilities of al qaeda organization. we've taken the battle to them. we have eliminated a number of their senior leaders and operatives. that doesn't mean they still

don't have capability of carrying out attacks. they're trying to look for ways and vul numbers in our system to get their operatives to the united states to carry out attacks. >> mr. brennan is blowing snoek. you have dead bodies. agree with that. it's all to the good. no impact on the overall organization. >> you don't think that's it's at all diminished? >> as i said, i think it's stronger than it was at 9/11, certainly because the support and opposition across the muslim world to american foreign policy is far greater today than it was in 9/11. >> so our plan right now is to double our aid to yemen, which is still not a large am of money, but say it's $160 million. do you think that will matter if we help the regime there try and get rid of al qaeda? >> no. i think we tend to forget one of the first people here with his begging bowl after 9/11 was yemeni president sala.

we've been dumping money and ordinance into yemen since 2001. al qaeda has done nothing but grow there. mr. brennan said there are 300 al qaeda operatives in yemen. if you doubled or tripled or quadrupled that number you might get 1/10 of what's there. more yemenis than any arab nationality fought against the soviets. there would have been more yemenis in the 9/11 attacks except they couldn't get visas. al qaeda helped put president sala in power back in the '90s when there was a civil war in yemen. there's no way sala can exist if we moves to crush al qaeda. >> what do we do? >> we, you know, theodore roosevelt once said fear god and take your own part. we stop depending on surrogates. we stop depending on pakistan. we stop depending on yemen and

use our own strong right arm. there is no clause in the constitution that says president obama can delegate the defense of america to a yemeni dictator. >> before we leave this morning i have to ask you finally about the cia deaths this week. you, of course, spent 20 years at the cia and you know what a great loss this is for the agency. how does this affect both morale and strategy? as the agency expands its role. >> i think it hurts morale to a certain extent, naturally, because of the deaths, but it hurts morale even more because one of the officers who got killed had arranged an operation in 1998 that would have killed or captured osama bin laden and mr. brennan was instrumental in preventing that operation from occurring. instead he said the americans should trust the saudis to take care of bin laden. so it's a painful -- it's a

painful death, but more importantly it's a death that didn't need to occur had mr. clinton -- mr. brennan, george tenet and mr. berger have the courage to defend americans. >> i wish those gentlemen were here to de fend themselves. >> i would be delighted any e time to talk to them in public on any forum, ma'am. >> hopefully we can arrange that. i'm sure they'll want to answer your charge. >> i'm sure they would. up next, we get out of washington and head to the beautiful state of utah. where john king caught up with one mayor who's looking to change the status quo by changing the local liquor laws. ♪

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every week on "state of the union" john king travels to a different state. in this week's american dispatch he set his sights on utah. known for its strong mormon values. as john quickly learned, there were also those looking to shake things up. >> reporter: sunrise makes the great salt lake all the more spectacular and the bison wandering state park lands are another reminder of the wonders and rugged terrain that greeted the early explorers. mormon temple is a more modern

landmark, symbol of faith and conservative thinking that often defines salt lake city's image, sometimes to the consternation of its non-mormon mayoral f becker. >> we have an enormous setting here. we live in a beautiful and natural setting as there is anywhere in the world. part of what we need to make sure people understand who come to visit here and look to locate their businesses here and live here is that everyone is welcome here. >> reporter: the mayor's attempt at an image makeover includes liberalizing city alcohol policies. a rule that allowed no more than two bars per city block. a change bar owners call overdue and also meaningless unless the state agrees to issue liquor licenses. >> everything here was a day short and six pack short. the state is out of liquor licenses. if somebody wanted to open another bar on this block they couldn't, there's no license

available. >> founder, went to the university of utah. >> reporter: the state controls liquor sales own to vance it is proof the church at latter day saints dominates utah politics. >> obviously, you know, utah is associated with mormons and they don't consume alcoholic beverages. i don't understand why some people think, well, if i don't do something i've got to make it more difficult and aggravating for the person who does to do it. >> reporter: for art and jamie brown, the anti--alcohol crew said began with a late night phone call two years ago. >> i got a call from my daughter. she simply said, dad, we've been in a very serious accident. john, the most poignant time in my life is when i had to watch my daughter, my son-in-law, pull life support off that baby e who 24 hours before was a loving family and then have to say good-bye, watch the baby turn color and then walk out of the room. >> reporter: matthew was 2 months old, killed by a drunk

driver. >> he had been served over six hours, 21 drinks. over 21 drinks. when he got rowdy, they threw him out, got in his car, drove around and he hit our daughter. three times the legal limit. >> reporter: brown heads the state's mothers against drunk driving chapter. utah's laws among the toughest in the nation. he compliments mayor becker for dedicating resources. allowing more bars downtown and residential neighborhoods is dangerous. >> the wetter you get it for the kids where they live, the more probability that's going to be an upward pressure on their choices to drink. if they see you're willing to put it next door to them, that it's pleasurable, it's the thing to try, there's no downsides to it, it really ups their risk to trying this stuff. >> reporter: mayor becker disputes the link. >> i certainly understand and respect brown and others' point of view that having a place that

serves liquor is an inducement for minors to drink. i just haven't found that to be the case in my own experience and i don't think the information in studies supports it either. >> we're providing for what people in neighborhoods want. they want to when able to walk to their neighborhood restaurant and have a drink with dinner. not everybody. but some people do. we need to provide for everybody in our community. >> reporter: a time to reflect on values they wish would not yield to shifting demographics and changing times. >> one of the goals here at "state of the union" is to get out of washington as much as we can. we have made it our pledge to travel to all 50 states in our first year. you just saw john in state number 49 which leaves just one. wyoming for next sunday. check out